Perth International Arts Festival

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The central theme of this year's Perth International Arts
Festival is transcendence and transformation. Artistic Director
Lindy Hume has developed a program that allows the audience to
experience its own kind of transcendence through the inspirational
work.

The highlight of the festival was Akram Khan's MA. With
exquisite detail and unique movement that could be compared to the
choreography of Lin Hwai-min (Cloud Gate Dance Theatre), Khan is an
exceptional new talent.

MA, which means both earth and mother, is without a
linear narrative, but focuses on our relationship with the
environment.

Khan blurs classical Indian Kathak dance with contemporary
dance, creating a new movement vocabulary that is exhilarating for
its elaborate physicality and speed.

Khan is also an astounding performer. While the dancers of his
company are excellent, none can quite match his charisma, grace and
physical embodiment of the work.

The festival program also features local dance companies West
Australian Ballet and co. loaded. The latter's premiere season is
titled aqueous. Although the company is dedicated to the
mature dancer, it seems there are few concessions made for the age
of the performers. They execute a full range of movements including
difficult lifts, jumps and feats of flexibility that are as
spectacular as you are likely to see anywhere else.

Imported from Europe, See Blue Through by Didy Veldman
is sophisticated and entertaining. The ensemble give a polished and
energetic rendition, maintaining an under-water sensibility
throughout. Paea Leach's Wan is interesting, but feels
somewhat contrived, while Jon Burtt's suave Mar is
evocative and sexy but becomes rather predictable.

It is in the recently commissioned Every Moment that
the cast truly shines. Natalie Weir draws on the personalities and
physical histories of each performer to create a highly personal
piece. Two new works are presented in West Australian Ballet's
outdoor season, Ballet at the Quarry. Adrian Burnett's
piece, Game Over, is difficult to digest both musically
and choreographically.

In contrast, the mature and well-developed Kalmuk, by
Jorma Uotinen, is expressed simply and effectively. According to
the choreographer, Kalmuk is a creature between human and
animal, or a crossing between East and West. The dancers are deeply
committed to the work, giving a uniformly strong performance.

Yet nowhere is the festival theme more practically expounded
than in the exhibition Vast Terrain: Exploring uncommon
ground. Australian metal-smiths Frank Bauer, Robert Foster and
Andrew Last transcend the utilitarian image of aluminium,
ingeniously transforming it into objects in turns fascinating,
striking and elegant.

The effect of the central exhibition, seeking
TRANSCENDENCE, is somewhat more subtle. The luminosity of the
works presented draws the eye and lifts the spirit with a gentle
euphoria. Listening to the heavenly music of Ann Hamilton's (corpus
- spinning sound) in the background, it is difficult not to be
drawn into the other-worldliness of these masterpieces by Edvard
Munch, Mark Rothko, Robert Irwin and Wolfgang Laib.

The writer's week program, titled Words and Ideas: a Curtin
celebration, brought together celebrated writers and thinkers
from around the world to engage in a hectic series of workshops,
lectures, readings and discussions.

The festival also serves up plenty of transcendent fun. French
street theatre ensemble Les Transformatuers invade the streets of
Perth with their alien antics and arresting, synchronised movement.
While after dark, the Beck's Verandah is the social hub of the
festival. Inspiring yet relaxing, poignant and thought-provoking,
the festival is broad and well-balanced. Little wonder then that
the festival has survived for more than 50 years.